


Permission

by ClaraHolsworthy



Series: two to ten years [a journey] [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Death, Gen, Nightmares, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-12-22 06:10:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11961357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaraHolsworthy/pseuds/ClaraHolsworthy





	Permission

A dream set in the dining room of my childhood home;  
the setting of many a nightmare always cast in darkness.  
I understand it's a routine visit; the food lies on the table,  
and you sit there - straight backed, silently crying,  
red faced - your back to the curtained bay window,  
the thick velvet encasing us in the soft darkness.  
“He left me,” you say, even as he sets the table.  
“It means nothing now that he has left me.”  
he continues around you; impassive, uncaring.  
we understand that there is a formality to these things.  
I should hate him for hurting you so but we all hurt  
and there is an inevitability to this I cannot deny.  
“Where do you want to go?” I ask. “I’ll go anywhere.”  
you could go to your sister, or you could come with me;  
I want you anywhere other than this room of nightmares;  
his ghost always circling around us, echoing the past.  
you take my phone from my hands and dial a number.  
you are calling my friend. I had plans, I remember,  
I had plans. “What are you doing?” I ask when you hang up.  
“I am giving you permission,” you say.  
I don’t understand - permission to leave, or permission to stay?  
And I begin to wonder, as the hellscape of this haunted room  
fades into morning, what it is I want you to be saying.


End file.
